Colleen O’Leary might victorious but she has warned a fellow contestant he would not be very welcome in Port Talbot
Colleen O’Leary, a 49-year-old former steelworker from Port Talbot, Wales, won the 2026 ITV reality show The Summit.(Image: John Myers)
ITV’s latest reality competition show The Summit has finally draw to a close, as three contestant reached the peak of a mountain in New Zealand after a challenging 14-day journey to the summit. One contestant who walked away victorious was Colleen O’Leary, a steel worker from Port Talbot.
After completing the mammoth task with two other cast mates, the 49-year-old walked away with her share of £114,290. The mother-of-two from Port Talbot was amongst thousands of TATA steel employees who were made redundant when the final blast furnace closed in 2024.
The town was profoundly affected when the announcement was made, seriously impacting most residents in the local vicinity, whether directly or through relatives and acquaintances who lost their positions.
When she lost her job, she decided to apply for the reality show in the hopes of changing her life- and that is exactly what it did.
We sat down with Colleen to discuss her time on the show, the challenges she face and what she is planning to do with her winnings. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter
A total of 14 contestants took on The Summit, this includes a former Olympian, an ex-gladiator, the daughter of Gillian McKeith and “gutsy Port Talbot tornado” Colleen O’Leary.
The strong woman was confident she could make it to the summit from the moment they landed in New Zealand. Despite struggling through crossings, having a knee injury and a couple of prayers here and there, she knew she had the endurance to make it to the end.
She shared: “I had a feeling in my stomach, I just had a feeling that I need to do it. It was just a need more than a knowing I was going to do it. I did have a gut feeling that I could win it, I mean it’s about finding the inner strength.
“I’m a massive believer in tapping into your inner strength, especially when you think you’ve got nothing left to give. There’s always more, and I probably could write a book from the things that I’ve encountered.”
Despite struggling through crossings, having a knee injury and a couple of prayers here and there, she knew she had the endurance to make it to the end.(Image: ITV)
Despite injuring her knee after a race to a helicopter with lead it to swell, Colleen didn’t let on that was in pain to the other contestants out of fear she would be voted out.
In fact, Colleen explained that working with the other contestants was more difficult than the challenges at times. During the series, one contestant Dockers (who’s real name is Shaun), was plotting to get the Welsh woman voted out.
Colleen joked: “There’s been an uproar regarding a certain person on there. He dare not step foot in Port Talbot, he won’t leave in one piece.”
She explained that she wasn’t aware of what he was planning or what game he was playing during whilst filming as all the interview are shot separately, so it wasn’t until watching the series back she discovered Dockers’ true intentions.
The steel worker said: “I generally could see he was a bit of a wild boy, but I didn’t know to what extent that he was. I wasn’t playing a game, I had one job, and my one job was to reach the summit. I didn’t know how to play a game, I was just being me.
“I think he was playing such a strong game, he thought everybody else was. I genuinely would never have stabbed anybody in the back, because I was so emotionally attached. I am one of them people that I do keep my cards close to my chest and my mother’s biggest saying is ‘keep your ears open and your mouth shut’.
“So, you know, that’s how I sort of live my life. You get so emotionally attached to people and also you can see through people as well. You can see right through them and in close proximity.
“I found that the hardest part, because I didn’t have a game plan. I remember chatting with the cast, and they were like, ‘oh, I want to get these followers, or I want to get this deal’. I was like I want to get up a mountain. That’s all I wanted to do. Just wanted to get up a mountain.”
Colleen is still in touch with most of the cast, and is planning to see Tara and Drew in April. She even reached out to Dockers after the series, to thank him for keeping her in the competition.
She shared: “Well, I did message him, because I did not know that he was speaking about me in the way he was speaking about me. So I did message him at one point to say thank you very much for keeping me there. His decisions changed my life so I’m still grateful for him. I’m grateful for every one of them, you know. I’ll take a little bit of each one of them away with me.”
Although, she also joked: “But with hindsight, now I wish I didn’t.”
Colleen’s life changed when she signed up for the show(Image: ITV)
Colleen explained that the competition has changed her life, and the prize money has meant she has a fresh start.
The three winners of the show won almost £40,000 each. Colleen revealed her plans for the money: “I’ve paid off my bills. I’ve had half of the money already, so I paid off all my bills and I viewed a flat last week. So I’m hopefully going to be purchasing the flat. So it’s just changed my world completely. Mentally, physically, financially, I’m doing better.
“I mean before I went on the show I was hopeless. Before I went to New Zealand I was in such a low place and I just felt hopeless. So you know finding myself again you know breaking them barriers and beating most of the men, and an Olympian and a Gladiator, it’s just given me so much empowerment. What did they call me? The Port Talbot tornado. So yeah, it has just given so much self-belief for me. It’s amazing.”
The woman has not only had support from her children, family and friends whilst appearing on the show, but also the whole town of Port Talbot.
She shared: “The support I’ve received from everybody, especially Port Talbot, it’s absolutely overwhelming. It’s sort of like brought the town together. It’s like everybody’s talking about it and it’s just outstanding.
“I’m blessed. I love Port Talbot and I love the people and I love Wales. It’s beautiful what’s happened, I do think to have this chance not only for me but for my family and for everybody in Port Talbot, to have this like hope, it’s something to hang on to, isn’t it?
“It’s like, ‘if Colleen can do it, I’m sure I can dig a little bit deeper into my life’. I don’t mean just like in the challenges, I mean in any sort of area of their lives, in any aspect of their life. So if they are feeling like it’s all too much, then all they’ve got to think of is me hanging off that rope.”
Colleen described the whole experience as empowering(Image: John Myers)
Colleen, who now works in a different steelworks, feels empowered after reaching the summit. She wants this to show middle-aged women that they can still achieve anything, especially after menopause.
About the experience, she said: “Empowering, absolutely empowering. I mean, I had it in my gut that I’m going to summit and I just hung on as much as I could and dug deep. To pass that on to like young girls and other women…I’m 50 this year, so you know if I can do it, anybody can do it.
“I don’t want women to think that when they reach menopause ‘oh my God, my life’s over’. I’ve had the best four years of my life. I wish I lived my whole life in this way, because I suffered really bad with PMDD, so I actually am living my best life now.
“So don’t write yourself off, because I am literally having the best time, especially since the show. Because before the show it wasn’t so good, but, you know, obviously the show has given me an amazing quality of life.”
After finally reaching the summit, Colleen was ready to return home to her family. She shared: “It was amazing, I couldn’t believe it, but I just wanted to go home. I just want to get home, I’d had enough. I’d had enough of not seeing my children and I was just like ‘get me home’.
“I was emotionally just shattered and physically, and my knee was just like a balloon. I think as soon as I got there, I was like ‘my work here is done.'”
You can catch up on The Summit on ITV X.